Nurses voice frustration over patient violence

Violence committed against nurses and other medical staff at hospitals is a growing issue, trade union Pasydy’s nurses’ branch leader Prodromos Argyrides said on Wednesday, saying that nurses “do not know what else to do” with the situation remaining unsolved.

“Every two or three months, we have a new incidence of violence at an accident and emergency unit. Workers are being attacked and we are very afraid that if a solution is not found, the time will come when we will not only be talking about verbal violence and petty attacks, but about much more serious issues,” he told newspaper Phileleftheros.

He added that representatives from his union had spoken to the police with the aim of ensuring “more intensive monitoring” of the situation, and made reference to laws passed in recent months which brought in more severe penalties for violence against medical professionals.

However, he said, “the situation is not changing”.

“What remains now is for us to address the public, to emphasise to them that we in the accident and emergency units are there to serve them and to provide them with the healthcare they need. We are not working against them, and they should not see us as adversaries,” he said.

To this end, he called on the federation of Cyprus patients’ associations (Osak) to offer support, saying that Osak could “perhaps … help us in our effort to manage this situation”.

He added that at present, a total of 200 nurses work in accident and emergency units around the island, and that “these people are there … dedicated to serving patients”.

“Attacks against them serve no purpose whatsoever,” he said.

Issues related to violence against medical staff have been ongoing in Cyprus for years, with the Cyprus medical association in 2024 having called for an “urgent review” of safety measures at accident emergency units after a patient attacked staff at the Nicosia general hospital.

“After that abomination, we condemn this new violent attack on the doctor and on the nurses … and we stand by the side of health professionals,” the association said at the time.

It also stressed that doctors and nurses “must not be in open danger when carrying out their duties, let alone in a place like an accident and emergency department, where the conditions are already demanding, and staff are dealing with serious and urgent incidents”.

Following the 2024 attack, which saw a patient attempt to stab another person before punching a doctor and two nurses, workers went on a two-hour strike.